it's necessary

  I haven't commented much on this Israel/Palestinian war much. The history of that area of the world and its' conflicts would take a lifetime of study to even begin to understand. I have done some reading and listening in the last few months and think I can begin to understand some portions of that. Israel believes that they were promised that land by God. It has to be understood that Israel and the Jewish people are the same thing. The Jewish people are Israel. The how and why they are entitled to the land they occupy is where it all gets so complicated. As I said, and is my understanding, they were promised that land by God. Unfortunately, no map, no deed, no exact delineation of the boundaries of that promised land exist. There are others that claim they were displaced by the Jewish people. The Palestinians are one of them. But understanding who the Palestinians are is a bit more difficult. They have historical ties to the general geographic area. Most Palestinians practice the faith of Islam although there are those that practice other religious beliefs such as Christianity. Their claim to the land is based on their historical occupation of the area. 

  A two-state solution was created by European powers. Israel gained their "promised" land. The Palestinians were required to leave that land and move to the land granted to them. The problem as I see it is that there is no "country" per se of Palestine. By that I mean you cannot get a map of the world and see a country named Palestine anywhere on it. It is a point of contention among scholars with many saying Palestine as an independent nation has never existed at any time in history. I see this as similar to Native Americans, regardless of their tribal affiliation, now declaring all of the north American continent as belonging to them. That claim being based on they were here first. It's a bit more complex than all of that but it is a part of it. 

  Now we combine that with religious belief. The Jewish people, the Christians and the Muslims have been in conflict forever. The Jewish people have been enslaved and at least one attempt to completely eradicate them has been tried. The Christians have waged their own wars against both. The Muslims became a problem when they began taking slaves and attacking American ships and shipping. The Barbary coast pirates! There is that whole history. All of that just scratches the surface of what is going on. Into that we have to insert the radical groups. And every group has its' fair share of radicals. Whether they are viewed as radical or not depending upon your perspective, as difficult as that is to understand. No one believes they are a radical, they believe they are righteous! 

 There is this radical group calling themselves Hamas. They are extreme in their beliefs and in following what is written in the Koran. They consider themselves to be true followers of Muhammad. Kill the infidels! They say they are Palestinians. Others, also followers of Muhammed, do not believe in those portions of the Koran dealing with violent resistance and domination of the infidels. They say they are Palestinians. A handful of Palestinians are also Christians, Buddhists and yes, Jewish. I know, very confusing stuff. But it was Hamas that attacked Israel. Israel has responded and has every right to respond. Hamas started this war and Israel intends to end it. That's the long and short of that. 

  I got thinking about all of this as I listened to Biden calling for a ceasefire. He isn't saying he wants an end to the war, just a pause to let the innocent bystanders leave the area. Yes, there are those that are innocent in all of this, just there by fate, chance or circumstance. The big question is how do you tell? How do you know which one is an active participant and which one is not. Spies, undercover agents and "resistance" fighters have been involved in every conflict. Is it reasonable to call a ceasefire, trust those radicals to abide by that and allow those not supporting them to simply leave? Are they honorable people fighting for their just cause? I don't think so. No, I believe Hamas and any groups supporting or aiding them in any fashion should be destroyed. I don't know how you do that but that is what needs to be done. It is just another one of those things in life, it is necessary. Whatever the cost, the pain and heartache it may cause to everyone and anyone, it is necessary. It was made necessary by Hamas!